West German Soccer Team Uncovers a Way to Stay Abreast of Competition

West German soccer club managers have started a major flap by inviting Samantha Fox, British topless model and pop singer, to perform her latest hit songs before an international soccer match.

English League and Cup champion Liverpool will play West Germany’s Bundesliga (First Division) team Hamburger Sportverein (HSV) next Thursday night. Hamburg’s club officials, faced with increasing financial problems, decided to hire Fox to lure more fans into the stadium. “She will excite the fans,” said the club’s secretary, Dirk Albrecht.

Fox, 20, has made frequent nude appearances in British tabloids.

Soccer referee Dirk Schroeder was quoted in a Hamburg newspaper as saying: “Why her? Couldn’t they get someone more sophisticated?” And Horst Jansch, president of the HSV Fan Club, said it was sad that the club had to take such measures to attract fans to its 62,000-seat stadium.

But Jupp Posipal, 59, a former HSV player and a member of West Germany’s 1954 World Cup-winning national team, called the idea “a nice change, especially for young people. Anything goes, as long as the stadium is full.”